Obsidian’s latest RPG, Avowed, is out now on Xbox and PC (for those who pre-ordered the expensive fancy version) and it’s a really good game! But one key thing I wanted to highlight is the RPG’s inventory and item management system because it’s really good and I want more games to copy it.
Sure, I’ll freely admit that an RPG’s inventory system might not be the sexiest or coolest topic. But it is a very important part of any game that features loot, potions, food, weapons, and gear.
A bad inventory system can ruin a great game and make it a chore to play. Having to endlessly fiddle about with various bags or being forced to run back to a shop or town to offload crap isn’t my idea of fun. So I was happy to discover that Avowed avoids all that annoying busywork with its streamlined and smart inventory system. The result is a more enjoyable experience because you spend less time fussing about with 400 items and more time doing stuff you actually want to do in a big RPG.
Perhaps the biggest and smartest feature in Avowed is the ability to instantly and easily transport items to your camp stash. Find a cool sword that doesn’t quite fit your current build, but you want to play around with it later? Send it back to camp with a single button press. Stumble upon some valuable armor that is really heavy and will make you overencumbered, but you want to sell it later? Well, just hit a button and send it back to your camp. You can do this anywhere with no restrictions and it’s awesome. Does it make sense? No, but the fact that I can even hold 10 swords in the first place doesn’t make sense either, so who cares?
The thing is, though, you might not even need to use this feature all that much because a lot of loot you find in Avowed doesn’t weigh anything. Consumable items—foods, potions, lockpicks—don’t weight anything. Likewise, crafting and upgrade materials—iron, wood, furs—also weigh nothing. I never, in my 40 hours or so with Avowed, left a dungeon desperate to sell stuff in order to free up some inventory space. That’s a common occurrence in many RPGs, but not Avowed. And even if you do pick up way too many swords and armor items, which do weigh you down, you can just teleport that stuff to camp.
But funnily enough, you often won’t even have to do that because you can always break down any weapon or piece of gear you find at any time and get its resources. Then you can use those resources, which weigh nothing, to upgrade your equipped gear and make it better. It’s wonderful.
Some might argue that this is too convenient and easy. I disagree. I think Obsidian correctly realized that managing stacks of crappy swords and pieces of iron isn’t much fun, nor is it what people want out of a roleplaying game. I want to fight monsters, meet new characters, explore strange lands and save the day. And Avowed focuses on all that stuff and doesn’t let inventory management get in the way.
I think more games should do that. Figure out what you want your game to be and the experience you want players to have while playing it. Then, once you understand that, cut anything that doesn’t help achieve that desired experience. Ultimately, sorting through forty pieces of iron isn’t why people play games like Avowed, so why make them do it?
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